The late Walker Percy's mordant contribution to the self-help book craze of the 1980s deals with the heavy abstraction of the Western mind and speculates about why writers may be the most abstracted and least grounded of all. (Before taking up novel writing, Percy was a medical doctor who became a patient in the very institution where he had worked.) The book disappeared for a time. Now it's back in print. Take the quizzes in it, then take a walk--you need to be back in the world before you write another word.


Review
"A mock self-help book designed not to help but to provoke; a chapbook to inveigle us into thinking about who we are and how we got into this mess."--Richard Eder, Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Original and imaginative, it conveys a serious, occasionally somber message in a vein of high comedy. I love this book. It is not to be read once through, but to be reread, savored, and pondered."--Edmund Fuller, The Wall Street Journal

"This is a stunningly innovative collection, for readers who like both to chuckle and to think hard."--People



Review
"A mock self-help book designed not to help but to provoke; a chapbook to inveigle us into thinking about who we are and how we got into this mess."--Richard Eder, Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Original and imaginative, it conveys a serious, occasionally somber message in a vein of high comedy. I love this book. It is not to be read once through, but to be reread, savored, and pondered."--Edmund Fuller, The Wall Street Journal

"This is a stunningly innovative collection, for readers who like both to chuckle and to think hard."--People



Book Description
Walker Percy's mordantly funny and wholly original contribution to the self-help book craze deals with the Western mind's tendency toward heavy abstraction. This favorite of Percy fans continues to charm and beguile readers of all tastes and backgrounds. Lost in the Cosmos invites us to think about how we communicate with our world.



About the Author
Walker Percy wrote several books, many of them bestsellers, and is considered one of the greatest American writers of our time. He dies in 1990.

FROM THE PUBLISHER